Queer India

In 1972, Syed Mustafa Siraj (1930-2012) published Māyā Mridanga, a novel which has attained an iconic status in recent years[1], with the advent of queer studies and a proliferation of queer texts in South Asia. Since its first appearance, the novel, set within an almost extinct itinerant folk theatre group, Alkaap, drew the attention of scholars working on aboriginal and folk cultures of Bengal; but, they have largely ignored Siraj’s declaration in the 1972 preface that the novel primarily deals with the cross-dressing male actors (p.5), the chhokras–jara purush tobu purush noy, nari – tobu nari o noy (Men, who are not men, but women – yet, not quite women either, p. 12). Siraj’s novel is a rare modern Bengali text to address deep philosophical questions of sexual subject formation, of essence and existence, of being and becoming.

"This paper focuses on the discussion of South Asian queer identity as it relates to the state of the postcolonial nation. It pays particular attention to the ways in which queerness engages with postcolonial fractures of the heteropatriarchal nation- class, caste, language and religion among other divisions. Focusing on R. Raj Rao’s novel The Boyfriend (2003), I work contrary to the logic of romantic idealization that would position the postcolonial nation against repressive homophobic statutes of colonialism. My reading suggests that the postcolonial nation is complicit with the former colonial project in marginalizing and policing queerness.
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The idea that the discourses and the praxes of sexualities need to be critically interrogated, problematized, and rethought of has gained ground in the recent past, and the issue of ‘modernity’ has come to occupy one of the key positions that inform and complicate this project. However, the singular idea of ‘modernity’ is both inadequate and detrimental towards the plurality of modernities in the non-West, necessitating a rethinking through what Dilip Gaonkar and Charles Taylor theorize as ‘alternative modernities.’ In this context, research on the modernities of ‘queer’ sexualities can be re-oriented through a consideration of what has been theorized as the ‘post-queer’ by Peter Jackson, David Ruffolo, and Adam Green. This paper considers ‘alternative modernities’ and the ‘post-queer’ co-relationally and attempts at interrogating the idea of a multivalent post-queer modernity through a discussion of some key queer literary and critical texts published in the past two decades in India.

This book draws on historiography, cultural theory and empirical research to explore contemporary concerns around issues of queer representation, sexual citizenship and activism. Using a variety of case studies, texts and ethnographic research, it explores these conceptual issues within a global and local context, and demonstrates the disruptive mechanisms of reading/seeing queerly. It focuses on the importance of locating the understanding of queer lives within geopolitics, academic institutions and cultural policies. Stressing on academic activism that is grounded in scholarship, the book attempts to generate critical debate and reflection in the field of Queer Studies.

When one comes across the Constitution of India, the scripted space of its Preamble creates equality for each citizen assuring dignity and a non-discriminatory society. But the queer community has not been considered ever as a part of the mainstream, nor their socio-political space has been able to create any sensitivities amidst all ideas of nation-building and nationhood. Although, a breathing space in the legal gaze of the country by decriminalising them has been given through the reading down of Section 377 of IPC in September 6, 2018. The inclusion of Apsara Reddy, a transgender woman, as the national general secretary of All India Mahila Congress, or elected politicians like Shabnam ‘Mausi’ Bano of Madhya Pradesh, M. Radha of Tamil Nadu, or Madhu Kinnar of Chhattisgarh — are just names that can be counted in fingers and forgotten. Very interestingly, they all have declared themselves as Transgender. The question then rises up, does the socio-political scenario creates space for Transgender? What about the other members of the rubric of the ‘queer’ community? Or is there a deep, imbedded politics within the ‘queer’ community occupying spaces one over the other? Why is it so unacceptable for the queer community to be part of the mainstream politics? Can this community be actually an effective part in nation-building? This paper will try to evaluate the politics of the ‘queer’ community and try to probe deep into the community building capabilities of this sexual minority of India. It will also deal with queering the mainstream socio-political space and try to analyse if their participation in nation-building as a community is possible or not.